Phages vs Bacterial infection
Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Vancomycin-resistant Enterococci, and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, are just a few examples of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections that have killed thousands of people yearly. The misuse of antibiotics has led to an increase in the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. We are at a stage where physicians can’t treat these bacteria with available antibiotics. Well, let me introduce you to a different approach to treating bacterial infection this process is called phage therapy. Phage therapy is the use of bacteriophages to treat bacterial infections. Bacterial phages infect only bacteria; Bacteria phages are harmless to humans, plants, and animals.
History of phage therapy
Phage therapy has existed for over a century, in 1915 Frederick Twort, a bacteriologist was the first to discover phages, In 1919 a microbiologist named Felix d'Herelle performed the first phage therapy, on a 12-year-old boy with severe dysentery. After a single dose, the boy’s symptoms cleared and he fully recovered within a few days.
Why phage therapy is so cool !!
Phage therapy can help overcome the main issues we face today with antibiotics.
Phages can work against both treatable and antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Phages are very specific about the bacteria they infect, so the collateral damage to normal flora and human cells is minimal.
Phage therapy is also used in the food industry to prevent the growth of bacteria that cause food poisoning.
Challenges of phage therapy
Finding an effective phage for a particular infection can be difficult because a phage will kill a bacterium only if it matches the specific strain.
Phage cocktails must be customized for each patient’s infection and constantly adjusted as the bacteria evolve and develop resistance.
The amount of the phage used for infection is unknown.
Phage therapy success therapy
A patient with Pseudomonas was successfully treated with phages at Yale university in 2016.
In 2017 phage therapy was successfully used to treat a patient with Acinetobacter baumannii ( multidrug-resistant bacteria) in Thornton hospital at UC San Diego.
Phage therapy has been used successfully to treat numerous patients with cystic fibrosis and multidrug-resistant bacteria at Yale university.
Thank you for reading !!
Have a great day :)
Comments